Longtime department store analyst and now Forbes.com columnist Walter Loeb described his trip to J.C. Penney’s home department in his column this morning. While the rest of the store had shoppers, mostly looking through clearance racks, he said, the home section was “like being in no-man’s land.”

Loeb said he was surprised there were no special events. Penney built new kitchen areas with large screen TVs in its largest stores. Why not use them for coffee tasting to get some shoppers back there, he suggested.

The revival of the J.C. Penney towel, at what he described “a very low price,” is also an opportunity to entice shoppers into the department.

That J.C. Penney towel was the No. 1 seller for many years.

For decades, J.C. Penney was the largest seller of home textiles. It lost that spot in 2003 to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. But to put that in perspective, Wal-Mart and Target beefed up their home departments and opened stores everywhere, taking shoppers away from the department stores. Wal-Mart is also the largest U.S. apparel, toy and grocery retailer.

That J.C. Penney Home brand and the J.C. Penney towel were sacked last year by former CEO Ron Johnson in favor of new brands that included Royal Velvet and J.C. Penney Everyday designed by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The partnership with Marta Stewart Living is the subject of a lawsuit that is pending a judge’s ruling.

Check you in-box. J.C. Penney emailed a 20-percent off friends and family coupon early this morning that’s good through Monday.

Plano-based Penney may be acknowledging that it’s too hard for some of its customers to wean themselves off of coupons. The discount is good in stores with a printed coupon and online with a code. It doesn’t list any exclusions.

This week, analysts lowered their sales forecasts for Penney after competitors Macy’s, Kohl’s and others reported November sales were washed away in the densely populated northeast by superstorm Sandy.

That means retailers need a stronger than previously anticipated December to get to their desired sales results. For the first time that anyone can remember, Target mimicked department stores with two $10 off coupons on purchases of $75 or more, one good through Dec. 14 and another through Dec. 24.

Penney CEO Ron Johnson has said in recent months that he would be tweaking pricing along the way and has taken steps to clarify Penney’s everyday low prices.

A Penney spokeswoman said the friends and family offer is “a planned event as part of our holiday marketing.”

“The distribution is much more limited than in the years past,” but it was also emailed to Penney’s loyalty program members, said spokeswoman Kristin Hays.

Each employee received 8-10 friends and family post cards to hand out or mail, she said. “We also had an email version to share electronically.”

Some shoppers were seen with the post cards on Black Friday. This time, the offer is also available more broadly on at least one coupon site, RetailMeNot.

On Wednesday, Penney sent out another email saying select outerwear was discounted 20 to 30 percent off including this year’s new popular, updated version of the puffer jacket in bright metallic colors.

The fine print on Wednesday’s email said the discount was “off original prices as shown.” That could be Penney’s everyday low price put in context. It’s starting to add back manufacturer’s suggested prices on tags so shoppers can better understand its prices.

On Friday, long time department store analyst Walter Loeb said in his column published in Forbes that Penney’s shoppers are “flocking to Macy’s as well as Target, Walmart and even Sears, each beating the drums with value promotions.”